Roark Johnson worked through many rhetorical elements when taking his photographs of a “Stranger a Day”. Each of these rhetorical devices speaks to the decisions that the photographer made when portraying the image to communicate his purpose and focus on the subjects within his images.
One of the most important visual aspects Johnson took into consideration when snapping his shots was the vector of attention of his subjects. In the June fifth photograph, he placed his subjects in the center of his lens, facing directly into the camera. This placement caused the vector of attention in the photograph to be right at the audience, including and engaging them with the people in the photograph and in turn in the lives of these “strangers”. This straightforward approach to attention fosters a variety of rhetorical appeals. In the way of ethos, Johnson presents an edited and polished photo with a definitive vector of attention that allows the audience to trust his opinions and perspective, thus allowing them engage with the photo. The photographer also might have chosen these individuals because they look like average, young white Americans, “strangers” that most everyone in his audience “knows” and would encounter on a day-to-day basis, also appealing to the ethos of his audience. The vector of attention focuses the audience to connect with the subject through eye contact. This eye contact, as well as other parts of the subject’s faces, allows the audience to feel the emotion (pathos) of the subjects– relaxed and tranquil. Included in the logos of the photograph, is the visual hierarchy created by the elements of the photo, as well as the placement of the individuals within the photo. The individuals are centered with a head to toe presentation that logically focuses the attention of the viewer and allows them to create a story for the individuals in the photo from all of the elements. These elements in the photo are placed in a way that allows the audience to gain more and more information about the subjects as their eye travels from the vector of attention downward, from the Cubs logo to the 24-pack of Miller Light in the woman’s hand.
Many other rhetorical devices are included in the photo– from the techniques of framing to the coloration of the photograph. The photograph is framed in a black edge that enhances the vector of attention on the people within the photograph; furthermore since all the other photographs in the collection have this same framing, it creates a unity throughout the collection. The photograph is also framed so that the audience is eye to eye with the people in the photo, like how you would encounter them while approaching them while walking down the sidewalk. Another aspect of the framing that ties in with the placement of the subjects in the photo, is the distance from which the photo was taken. This distance is appropriate for someone labeled as a “stranger”– you are not encroaching on their personal space, but you are close enough to examine them fully. The cropping of the photograph is essential to communicating the purpose of the image. This photo is cropped so that the people are centered in the photo with very little of their environment showing. Both of these decisions keep the focus on the people and do not distract from the portrayal of them. The focus of the image is on the people and their bodies in space as well. Their faces are sharpened and their surroundings, particularly those that could be distracting, have been blurred and faded around the edges, again, creating the focus on the individuals. A final rhetorical device employed by Johnson was the coloration of this photo, as well as all the others in this collection. This photo was colored black and white, the same as all of his others. This creates a unity (logos) among all of his photos in the collection.
Each of the rhetorical devices discussed above work together to create a purpose and focus for the photo. Johnson has created a piece that appeals to his audience in a variety of ways and fits in with the theme of his “Stranger a Day” collection.
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